Pallet for large coil of sheet material and cooperating roller stand for dispensing sheet material from coil

ABSTRACT

A pallet for delivering a large coil of sheet material adapted to cooperate with a roller stand for dispensing sheet material from the coil. The pallet has at least one vertical opening adapted to allow free passage of one or more rollers or sets of rollers of a roller stand when the pallet is lowered over the roller stand.

United States Patent Davis June 17, 1975 PALLET FOR LARGE COIL OF SHEET MATERIAL AND COOPERATING ROLLER References Cited STAND FOR DISPENSING SHEET UNITED STATES PATENTS MATERIAL FROM COIL 2,656,050 10/1953 Bestetal 214/1 D X 2,803,363 8/1957 Hutchinson.....

[75] Inventor Robe" Lev'ttown 3,223,259 12/1965 Nicholson 214/105 R x [73] Assignee: Rohm and Haas Company, 3,695,539 10/1972 Lindstaedt 242/79 X Philadelphia, Pa.

Filed Jan 2 1974 Primary Examiner-Frank E. Werner 211 App]. No.: 430,350 1571 ABSTRACT A pallet for delivering a large coil of sheet material [52] U 5 Cl 214/340. 214/10 5 214/310. adapted to cooperate with a roller stand for dispensing 214/621, 242/58 242/687 sheet material from the coil. The pallet has at least [51] In Cl 47/2'4 one vertical opening adapted to allow free passage of [58] Fieid R 1 R one or more rollers or sets of rollers of a roller stand 214/1 D, l P, DIG. 3, DIG. 4, 310; 108/51, 52, 55; 242/79, 81, 68.7, 58.6

when the pallet is lowered over the roller stand.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUN 17 ms 1'1, 8 89,831

saw 1 FIG.

illmh" 1 PALLET FOR LARGE COIL OF SHEET MATERIAL AND COOPERATING ROLLER STAND FOR DISPENSING SHEET MATERIAL FROM COIL The present invention relates to systems for delivering and dispensing large coils of sheet materials.

A coil of sheet material is generally delivered on a conventional pallet and is generally moved about by use of a fork lift truck. The coil is frequently delivered on the pallet in a vertical position, i.e., the axis of the coil is vertical. The prior systems have dispensing apparatus for the large coils of sheet material employing horizontal racks with a shaft through the core of the coil. Several problems have arisen with this approach, e.g., when part of the sheet material is required to be dispensed from the coil there is often the serious problem of override during the unwinding of the shaftsupported rolls on horizontal racks. Furthermore, there is a problem removing the vertical coil from the delivery pallet and shifting it to a horizontal position while securing the shaft on the racks. There is also the expense of the core reel which, if it could be eliminated, would be more convenient as well as less expensive. Furthermore, for very large widths of sheets, large setup times are necessary to remove the coil from the pallet and transfer it to a dispensing rack.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved pallet for delivering a large coil of sheet material.

A further object is to provide a cooperating pallet and roller stand which are more efficient in delivering and dispensing coils of sheet materials.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view ofa roller stand with cooperating pallet removed for ease of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of an embodiment of the pallet of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective of a pallet and roller stand system.

Referring to FIG. 2 there is illustrated a pallet 11 comprising a rigid frame 12 which is illustrated in this embodiment as a unitary body and can be steel or other materials, but can also be boards and cross boards. The pallet has a pair of fork receiving openings 13 into which may be inserted forks 15. The fork receiving openings 13 can be either parallel or perpendicular to the longer sides of the pallet 11, or both. The pallet 11 is provided with at least one vertical opening 16 through the pallet 11 adapted to allow free passage of at least one roller or set of rollers of the roller stand 35 in FIG. 3 when the pallet 11 is lowered over the roller stand 35. The pallet 11 is optionally provided with means 17 for preventing the coil from rolling when it is being delivered and transported by the pallet 11.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the pallet 11 on a roller stand 35 adapted to cooperate therewith. The coil of sheet material 23 is illustrated in place on the roller stand and is illustrated as a coreless coil, i.e., without a structural core as was necessary in the prior art systems for dispensing large coils of sheet material, but rather in the illustrated embodiment is hollow at its core 33. The roller stand 35 is shown with cross means 41 and at least one upright member 39 (24 in FIG. 1) having bearing means 37 and roller means 36 rotatably mounted in the bearing means. In the embodiment in FIG. 1, the roller means comprises a first pivot arm 26 rotatably mounted on the bearing means 24 at a pivot point 25 and having two bearings 27 and 28 equidistant from said pivot point 25 with second pivot arms 31 pivotably mounted at pivot points 27 and 28, and having bearing means 32 equidistant from said second pivot points 27 in one case and 28 in the other, with rollers 29 rotatably mounted at each of the bearings 32.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, as the sheet material 34 is dispensed and the diameter of the coil 23 becomes smaller, the roller means 21 adjusts to the changing radius of curvature to balance the load so that it is evenly distributed on each of the rollers 29. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the rollers 36 are not adjustable to compensate for the changing loads. The roller stand 35 shown in FIG. 3 has upright members 39 which can also be a unitary piece of material such as sheet metal having bearings 37 which have roller means 36 rotatably mounted at said bearing means 37. This roller stand 35 is also adapted to support a large coil of sheet material 23 resting on its periphery and to dispense the sheet material when the coil is rotated on its periphery. The pallet 11 in FIG. 3 is shown in place on the roller stand 35. When the coil is completely dispensed, the pallet is removed from the roller stand and another roll is put on the stand. A fork lift truck takes another pallet 11 with roll 23 supported thereon and puts it on the roller stand 35 so that the roller means 39, 41, 36, 37 freely pass through the vertical opening 16 of the pallet 11 and as the pallet is lowered, the weight of the coil 23 is shifted from the pallet to the rollers and the pallet is allowed to rest on the roller stand or floor 38 until the coil is completely dispensed.

While only two specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described it should become apparent that various alterations, modifications, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A system for delivering large coils of sheet material and for dispensing said sheet material therefrom, comprising the combination of a pallet and a roller stand, said roller stand having roller means for horizontally supporting said coil,

said pallet comprising a rigid frame adapted to support said coil with the axis of the coil being generally horizontal, said frame having horizontal openings adapted to receive the forks of a lift truck, said frame having at least one vertical opening to allow free passage of said roller means through said pallet when said pallet is lowered over said roller stand, said roller stand receiving the load of said coil upon the lowering of the surface of said pallet below said roller means,

said roller stand having at least one upright member carrying bearing means and said roller means rotatedly mounted at said bearing means, said roller stand adapted to horizontally support said coil with the periphery of said coil in resting contact with said roller means, whereby said sheet material is dispensed when said coil is axially rotated.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said bearing means are near the upper end of said upright member, said system further including a first pivot arm rotatably mounted on said bearing means at a pivot point, said first pivot arm having two bearing means equidistant from said pivot point, and roller means rotatably mounted at each of said two bearing means.

3 4 3. The system of claim 2 further including additional said additional pivot arms. pivot arms mounted one on each of said two bearing 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said pallet has means of said first pivot arm, and roller means rotatmeans for preventing said coil from rolling while said ably mounted at each of said two bearing means, said coil is being delivered.

bearing means being equidistant from the pivot point of 5 

1. A system for delivering large coils of sheet material and for dispensing said sheet material therefrom, comprising the combination of a pallet and a roller stand, said roller stand having roller means for horizontally supporting said coil, said pallet comprising a rigid frame adapted to support said coil with the axis of the coil being generally horizontal, said frame having horizontal openings adapted to receive the forks of a lift truck, said frame having at least one vertical opening to allow free passage of said roller means through said pallet when said pallet is lowered over said roller stand, said roller stand receiving the load of said coil upon the lowering of the surface of said pallet below said roller means, said roller stand having at least one upright member carrying bearing means and said roller means rotatedly mounted at said bearing means, said roller stand adapted to horizontally support said coil with the periphery of said coil in resting contact with said roller means, whereby said sheet material is dispensed when said coil is axially rotated.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said bearing means are near the upper end of said upright member, said system further including a first pivot arm rotatably mounted on said bearing means at a pivot point, said first pivot arm having two bearing means equidistant from said pivot point, and roller means rotatably mounted at each of said two bearing means.
 3. The system of claim 2 further including additional pivot arms mounted one on each of said two bearing means of said first pivot arm, and roller means rotatably mounted at each of saId two bearing means, said bearing means being equidistant from the pivot point of said additional pivot arms.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said pallet has means for preventing said coil from rolling while said coil is being delivered. 